Lion Air founder Rusdi Kirana is furious with Boeing over how it handled the airline's recent 737 Max 8 crash, and says he is determined to cancel the group's massive order for the type, even if it means going to court.

While wider political tensions dominated much of the agenda and continue to cause potential headaches for airlines, it was the return of a familiar problem in the shape of rising fuel prices that did the most to knock airlines from their high-profit altitude during 2018.

The appointment of Anne Rigail as the new chief executive of Air France is a positive end to a year in which gender diversity among airline leaders was thrust into the spotlight for all the wrong reasons.